The Beginning of the End
by Slowpokeking
Summary: The Romance Of Anakin and Satine
1. Chapter 1

Darth Maul looked at the dark space outside his ship, a cold sneer emerged from his face.

He had a hideous face, got bloodshot yellow eyes, the skin is covered with red and black jagged tattoos, the top of his head got no hair, but was filled with small horns of different shapes, his lower half was all made by metal. As a Sith Lord with extremely superior talent, he had been well adapted to this new pair of legs, and even had begun to consider how to take advantage of his metal legs to strike down his enemy in combat.

This powerful Zabrak Sith Lord, who was risen by Darth Sidious on Mustafar, once served as his Master's personal assassin. He perfectly completed a number of extremely dangerous missions to further implement the grand plan of the Sith. Twelve years ago, during the Naboo crisis, he was sent by his master to capture Queen Amidala and force her to sign the treaty. After successfully defeated the queen's protector, Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn, the Sith Lord's overconfidence gave Obi Wan, Qui Gon Jinn's Padawan, the chance to bisect him. He magically survived with the help the dark force and fled from Naboo. However, endless pain, hatred and fear made him lost his memory and sanity, he became a mad cyborg and eight metal legs, lived like a wild animal for more than ten years.

Until recently, with the help of his brother Savage and Mother Talzin, the matriarch of the Night Sister, the Zabrak Sith Lord restored his sanity, Maul once again returned as the nightmarish Sith Lord.

With Savage's help, he mercilessly humiliated Obi Wan, even with Ventress came to the Jedi's aid, they were no match for the Zabrak brothers and could only choose to flee.

However, what Maul wanted was not just revenge. The Clone Wars, his master's grand plan, had been started a few years, but due to his failure in Naboo, he did play any role in this war, the war that would bury all the Jedi. Therefore, when Obi Wan and Ventress fled, he decided to put his revenge aside temporarily and not come after them. Now, he and his brother would fight together, let their lighsabers to cover with blood stains , make his name let the entire galaxy tremble.

That's his plan for the future, it's so gorgeous in his eyes...

"Congratulations, my Apprentice, no, Lord Maul. You were reborn. "A deep voice interrupted Maul's contemplation.

A figure with black robe emerged upon the Hologram of the spacecraft, the hood was pulled very low, most of face could not be seen. "Master ..." After heard that, he hastened to bow before the figure, and asked his brothers Savage to follow him, salute to his master.

Despite they hadn't met for more than a decade, the fear of his master's punishment never ceased from Maul mind.

This was not surprise to him. Just as he mentioned to brother earlier, in his eyes, Darth Sidious was the most powerful being in the entire galaxy, both the mind and the power. If his master still hadn't know their whereabouts, then that would really make him surprise.

"Do not worry, Lord Maul, you did very well." Sidious voice was so low, like a viper's hiss, a smile could been seen under the hood. "Qui Gon Jinn's death changed the fate of the Chosen Son, he could not really walk into the Light Side to become a real Jedi after his mentor's demise."

"Lord Maul, I can feel in the last ten years, the hate and pain that had surpassed what you had tasted from previous training and fighting never stop haunting you, and that was the challenge of the dark side. Even though you once lost sanity, but when your mind was clean again, you had them firmly under control. Lord Maul, now you are stronger and more unstoppable than ever. I believe you already discovered this fact during your recent battle, against the Jedi Obi Wan."

"You are absolutely right, my master." Maul replied, his master was really well aware of his every move.

"Enhanced ourselves with anger and hate, while maintain excellent control them at the same time rather than get driven by it, which was the biggest difference between a real Sith and those Jedi who simply fell to the Dark Side. "It seemed Sidious was quite proud of him. "Lord Maul, now I need you to face the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, and lead him into the darkness."

Maul nodded his head, he was slightly disappointed, he twitched his mouth a little bit, seems like he couldn't enjoy massive slaughter in this mission. Moreover, Skywalker? Is this individual really that important?

"You want use that boy to replace my brother!" Savage recklessly shouted at the hologram.

"You must be his brother, and I could feel that Force is also strong with you."Sidious did not blame Savage, he smiled and continued, "Unless you believe that your brother is not strong enough to defeat Skywalker, otherwise you have nothing to worry about."

"He would determine the trend of this war and the fate of the JedI, he was also the padawan of Obi Wan, your fierce enemy." Sidious was explaining this mission's importance to his apprentice.

"I understand, my master." Challenge and defeat the powerful Chosen One would be the perfect way to declare his return and further spread fear to the hearts of the Jedi. Maul was no longer dissatisfied with this task.

Seeing his apprentice willingly accepted the task, Sidious finally warned: "Lord Maul, your strength was incredible, nobody in this galaxy can easily kill you." His tone became more serious, "But remember, Never let your own arrogance defeat yourself again, numerous powerful Sith Lords has thus fallen because of it. When the opportunity comes, strike your enemy down without hesitation. "

"Thank you for reminding, master, I will never make the same mistake again. "The first conversation between Sidious and Maul since Naboo crisis had thus concluded.

Shortly after, on the other side of the galaxy, Sidious started the conversation with another Sith Lord.

" Lord Tyrannus, it's time to further lure Skywalker into the Dark Side. "the deep voice once again spoke through the hologram.

"And what is your plan, my master?" Count Dooku, the elegant old man replied with his magnetic voice, "I don't mind to use Makashi or my force lightning to teach another lesson to that kid." Although he was clear that Anakin had become a powerful Jedi and commander through the experience of the war, but Dooku still took him as a disobedient child.

"No, the first time I saw Skywalker, I can feel his heart was clouded by fear. With your assistance, fear had slowly led him walk close to the way of the Sith. Thus, the prophecy would soon be overturned. "Sidious' words was full of confidence, like Anakin Skywalker was just a puppet on his hand.

"However, until now, he still doesn't really see the greatness of the Sith and the Dark Side, doesn't have a reason to join the Sith. Like you once were, Lord Tyrannus."

"The discipline of the Jedi would shackle people's view, making them foolishly think their way is the only right one." Despite he was twenty years older than Sidious, Dooku still got a lot to learn from his master about the secret of the Dark Side.

"Lord Tyannus, your mind already surpassed numerous Jedi, especially that green little midget, nearly nine hundred years old. Expanded your vision, you have. "Sidious spoke in Yoda's format. In fact, even himself, the embodiment of the darkness once said childish words like "Sith were evil" before that wise Muun decades ago.

"I hope this time you can make him learn the true beauty of the dark side. Let him understand, it's the Dark Side that could fufill his desire, the way of the Sith will lead him to reach his dream. "Sidious then started to introduce the details…

The chivalrous warlike Mandalorians were well known by the galaxy for thousands of years. However, a new faction known as the New Mandalore rose up in recent years, under Duchess Satine Kryze's leadership. They tried change the Mandalorian's tradition of military strength, place great importance of peace and neutrality. With the Jedi Knight Obi Wan's help, Satine once obtained the upper hand against the Death Watch and had the situation under control. However, her victory was short lived. A clone of Jango Fett: Alpha Ø2, now using the name of "Spar", formed an organization called the Mandalorian Protectors, advocated to return the Mandalore people to the traditional war like state. They also tried to establish Jango Fett as a hero and wanted to restart the war against the JedI to avenge him. The martial spirit of the Mandalorians is flowing in their blood, the hatred of the Jedi is impossible to forget. This organization received many support form the Mandalorians since its founding. Spar was highly possible to become the new Mandalore, leader of the Mandalorians.

A spaceship landed in the Mandalore planet, a Zabrak Sith Lord with black robe walked off from it. The Mandalorians had allied with the Sith a couple of times in the history. The current Mandalorian Protectors had extreme hatred toward the Jedi, to work with the Sith once again seems cannot be more logical. Spar already had more support within the Mandalorian, get rid of Satine's New Mandalore and elected as the new leader is just a matter of time. But it was Sidious who firstly contact Spar to offer help, such a powerful ally would be very useful against the Jedi in the future.

"After we deliberately leaked the info of assassination, Satine was now seeking help from her Republic allies. Lord Sidious suggested us to take this chance, get proof then declare that she was trying to seize power with the Jedi forces, that will make her new Mandalore lose any internal support then completely collapse. " Spar was so confident. With the Sith Lords' help, he believed nobody could stop him from becoming the new Mandalore now. He already thought about the title: Mandalore the Resurrector."But we still need to let this woman to shut up forever. "

"I will bring back her head. All you have to do is keep your promise, pledge yourselves to join the CIS and help us wipe out the Jedi." Darth Maul said coldly ...

A woman, just like twelve years ago.

Only this time, he would not fail ...

On the Republic capital, Coruscant, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was meeting with the young Jedi Anakin Skywalker, in his office.

"Anakin, my friend, I'm so glad to see you." Palpatine smiled graciously. Although he was over sixty, but still looked elegant.

"Your highness, I come to say goodbye." Anakin's handsome face also gave a smile. He had a very close relationship with this man in these years. In his eyes, he is not only the leader of the Republic, but also a father figure. "Our ally, the new Mandalore's leader, Duchess Satine, is in danger of assassination, she was seeking our assistance. Unfortunately, Asoka was sent to help deal with Grievous, and my master Obi Wan still hasn't returned from that mission against Darth Maul. The Jedi Council decided to let me alone to protect the Duchess. "

"I can understand, the current situation in Mandalore sector is very unstable, the militants are rising again. Their hatred of the Jedi can be traced back thousands of years ago, so you need to perform tasks alone and secretly. Did you receive information from Master Kenobi in the past two days ? "Palpatine put away his smile, asked solemnly.

"Received some vague transmission, he said he would come back as soon as possible. Although I was a little worried, but I believe that my master will finish that monster and safely return. "Anakin's tone was full of confidence. "And I will never let him down, I have to go now, chancellor."

"I sincerely wish you success, my friend." Palpatine put his hand on Anakin's shoulders. "I believe you will learn more in this trip, and use the knowledge to protect more people."


	2. Chapter 2

After several days' journey, Anakin arrived on Kalevala, the home planet of Duchess Satine. He came to the meeting place secretly in the night. Satine was already waiting for him there. She was a elegant and beautiful woman, around thirty years old. Due to the current critical situation, she wore a black robe to avoid attention.

"I'm sorry my master Obi Wan couldn't come here ..." Anakin apologized to the Duchess.

"No, I believe you can help me solve the problem," Satine interrupted Anakin. This passionate and courageous young man left her a good impression during the crisis of Death Watch. "There is no time for these. The New Mandalore was greatly infiltrated, let us ..."

At this time, six heavily armed Mandalore Commando suddenly appeared from the darkness and surrounded the two. It's only possible to recognize two or three of them in the night, Satine was sure these are all Spar's supporters, she knew the situation was not in her favor.

"It seems that your brethren have been concerned about our meeting." Though aware of their situation was not good, Anakin had not completely lost the sense of humor.

" Duchess Satine, I am sorry to meet you in this kind of situation. But we have received the message and evidence that showed you were secretly contacting the Jedi to help you seize power." Before Satine could say anything to explain, the leader of these commandos coldly spoke, "We do not believe these things, but you and your friend have to go with us for investigation until the truth is revealed."

Sounds very logical, but both Anakin and Satine knew clearly, once they go with these commandos, they wouldn't come out alive.

Anakin flashed out his blue lightsaber, quickly knocked down a few Mandalorian Commandos, The Duchess, too, took her blaster out to assist the Jedi, they quickly broke out from the commandos,ran to Saine's spaceship and escaped.

"They have fled, and we have recorded the meeting between her and the Jedi, along with the fight as you ordered, my lord., We also installed track and jamming devices on their ship." The leader of the commandos didn't order his troops to go after them, but took out his hologram and contacted Spar.

"You all did a wonderful job, now give the tracking information to the Sith Lord. Then we don't have to worry about that woman her Jedi friend anymore, our ally will take care of them. What I will to do next is to show our people these, then the New Mandalorian has completely become history, we will able to return to our traditional way completely."Spahr said, "and I lead our people to regain honor and glory throught this war, as the new Mandalore! "

Anakin was driving Satine's ship, traveling in Mandalore system, he found the ship's hyperspace jump device was jammed, so try to follow a secret route, find a planet that could repair the ship's devices, then use the hyperspace jump to leave the Mandalore system.

"They only sent a few commandos to arrest us, and there is no sign of pursuit. I think they deliberately let us go, there must be a trick in there." Satine still could not relax our vigilance, "is not difficult to predict that how they will destroy my public image, 'make secret ally with the Jedi to seize power, intent to sell my people outand subvert the Mandalorian tradition.' "Although she was able to escape with Anakin's help, but the Duchess knew clearly that her political career in Mandalore had come to an end, his political views of peace and neutrality probably will no longer get any support. Satine was a strong willed woman, but thinking of her goal of life and years of hard work completely shattered. The Duchess' mood is very low, her eyes even slightly moisted.

"I will escort you to Coruscant, you can stay there for a while and make the plan for the future." Anakin tried to comfort the Duchess. "No matter what, our current situation is much better than just get secretly executed by them. Republic and we Jedi will try to end the war as soon as we can, I believe they will understand the value of peace."

"Thank you," Satine squeezed out a smile after a sigh, "Actually, I understand that the way of peace is impossible to truly take root in the hearts of the Mandalorians, but I can not allow my people to continue suffer these endless conflicts. We cannot spill too much blood for this war ... "

"To protect your loved ones with all you have, is the most precious quality." Anakin said sincerely, "I became a Jedi Knight to better protect the people I love, no matter the cost. "

"That doesn't sound like an idea from a Jedi," the tone of the Satine became slightly relaxed. Although they once fought together against the Death Watch, but she didn't pay too much attention to this young JedI Knight to know him.

Anakin gave back a smile, then suddenly yell out with surprise.

"Oh no, they didn't just jammed the hyperspace jump device, soon we will lose most of the control of this ship. We must find a planet to land off, now."

"The only planet we can reach soon is the barren world Aakaan, we can not repair ... "Satine stopped because she realized there was no other choices.

Not long ago, after Darth Maul followed his master's order and went to assassinate Duchess Satine, his brother Savage Opress went to contact Mother Talzin and reported Darth Sidious' conversation with his brother.

The pale faced witch seemed was interested in the individuals he mentioned. After a moment of thinking, she broke the silence, "Thank you for reporting this to me, I already suspected there might be other people to contact your brother after his recovery. Unfortunately, Savage, because of the massacre on Dathomir, my power was constantly weakening. I am afraid I don't have the power to directly compete with that Sith Lord."

Looking at the disappointed face of Savage, Talzin changed her tone, "However, because of this, I have started to find a way restore my power for a while. Thanks to you, I got a plan now, if it goes successful, I will become stronger than ever. Of course, I also need your help, the fact that you will play a crucial role in my plan."

Savage was listening to the arrangements of the witch, his eyes widened gradually because of surprise. "Do not be afraid, Savage. There is nothing to worry about. Once my plan is successfully completed, you and your brother will be greatly rewarded, and thus become more powerful." the single minded Zabrak simply could not hide anything from Mother Talzin.

"Yes, mother." Although he still didn't feel good of the plan of the witch, but at least, in Savage's eyes, she is more trustworthy than that Darth Sidious.

And he had no chance to survive if he goes against her will. He had always been somebody's tool, he knew this quite well. But before he had enough power and knowledge, all he could do is find a nice user of this tool.

Akaan is a planet in the Mandalore sector. The planet's surface was mostly barrens. Anakin and Satine tried to figure out a plan after they landed here.

"Because of the unstable situation, and the Mandalorian's hatred toward the Jedi, we didn't send any other troops to sector"Anakin was looking at the communication system, "It's difficult to contact the Republic here, but I will try my best. "

"I believe you can do it, but I'm afraid those Mandalorian Protectors won't just stop here, more trouble may come to our away." Satine was still worried.

After further discussion, they decided to go off the ship to explore this planet for a little while, see what they could find.

Just after they walked for a short distance, a small repulsorlift speeder suddenly came to their way widely and stopped in front of them. The rider was dressed in a black robe, he jumped off from his mount after it stopped. Anakin could sense that the Dark Side of the Force was very strong in him, like Satine expected, they were not done yet.

The rider took off the hood, showing the red and black tattoos on his face. His yellow eyes were looking at is Anakin, but Satine was also a little bit horrified when seeing his face.

"Darth Maul!" Anakin blurted out, he always remembered this Sith Lord firstly appeared on Tatooine after them, then later in Naboo, it was him who killed his most respected Jedi Master - Qui Gon Jinn.

"We have met before?," Darth Maul asked, before Anakin replied, he continued, "Oh, I remember now, twelve years ago, in Naboo, you didn't have the courage to stay and watch me kill Qui Gon Jinn "The Sith Lord said with ironic tone.

"Master Qui Gon Jinn became one with the Force like a hero and you ..." Anakin looked at Moore's lower body, said, "to see if you like, I can imagine how did you survive, and how horrible your life was in all these years. If I experienced such failure, I would rather die than put so much metal on my body to live like a monster. "He mercilessly lifted Maul's old scar.

"Over these years, what I have experienced was a hundred times more terrible than Death." Darth Maul's voice became deeper, "and you will soon taste the power I've learned from it." Then he raise his long hilt, blade of scarlet light flashed out from both ends.

Anakin also took out his light saber and told Satine: "Get out of here. After I'm done, I will meet with you as soon as possible." Then he flashed out a blade of blue light from his hilt, started the duel.

As the Chosen one, Anakin's talent was unmatched. After the battle with Count Dooku a few years ago, he further improved his lightsaber skills, now he was one of the best Djem So users in the history, every strike was extremely fast as lightning and overwhelming as thunder.

However, Darth Maul was not weak either. He was trained by Sidious for more than 20 years and took down many powerful individuals. After a few clashes, the Zabrak Sith Lord realized his opponent was indeed very powerful. He found he was the weaker one when the blades met head on head and matching their strength, this never happened before in any battle Darth Maul had ever encountered. Luckily, his vicious Juyo form didn't let him have disadvantage on pace. Anakin was the most powerful Djemo So user he had ever see. Both the attack and defense moves were so incredible. Maul was excited, he began to understand why his master paid so much attention to this young man, thus take him would bring so much joy…

After the first few clashes, Darth Maul started to change tactic, he knew that under the disadvantage of strength, the reckless, almost defenseless Juyo form were not match for the more balanced Djemo So form, it got strong attack and "offensive defense", to counter attack right after defense, or bring the opponent's own blow against them. Maul unusually put away the vicious strikes of Juyo, but is choose to keep his body moving. Then use his new made double-bladed light saber's advantage on strike distance to attack from Anakin's side. Lack of mobility was Djem So form's biggest weakness.

At the same time, Duchess Satine didn't run away, but chose hide aside and try to find the opportunity to shoot the Sith Lord. She would never leave her friend to fight against such powerful enemy alone. But the Duchess mostly could only see two extremely fast figure, along with the afterimage of red and blue light sabers. Looks like she could not intervene the battle between such powerful Force users.

Anakin also admitted that Darth Maul really was one of the most formidable opponents he ever met. Unlike Count Dooku, who was weaker on strength and pace, but used skillful thrusts and experience to beat the two JedI. This Zabrak Sith Lord was fairly balanced, his lightsaber skills, speed and strength were all very good. Maul also figured out his lightsaber form's weakness after a few clashes and changed tactic. But since the Sith Lord abandoned Juyo's violent attackes, it's not hard to deal any damage to Anakin, as long as the JedI stay calm and defend carefully. Anakin was clear that Maul would not maintain this tactic, the Sith Lord wanted him to attack recklessly, then when exhaustion comes, Maul would change back to his old way, use Juyo's savage attacks to bring him down. So Skywalker also adjusted his own strategy, he slightly slowed down his pace, reduced some of the offensive moves to avoid spend too much energy. Skywalker was luring Darth Maul to return to the typical way of Juyo, then start the might blow of Djem So again.

Both sides had temporarily changed from their typical way. Satine also noticed that. She raised his blaster again, patiently looking for opportunities.

Seemed like Maul was the one who lost patience first, he stopped dodge and rushed toward Anakin and release a series of vicious attacks. Anakin then changed back to Djem So's old way, launched out powerful blows. The essence of Juyo forum was to use chaotic offense to crush the opponent. If the opponent had greater strength and pace, then the Juyo user won't be able to dominate the battle and its weakness, the lack of defense will completely expose. After Anakin blocked Maul's several attack and immediately launch out stronger counterattacks. Maul began to hold his lightsaber hilt with both hands and his body started to whirl. That's his special way of defense. His already horrific face was now painfully twisted and covered with sweat due to the Dark Side of the Force, made it more scary to look. Anakin's eyes were shining with confidence, he was close to defeat the Sith Lord.

When the tide began to tilt to the Skywalker, Maul suddenly stopped his special defense moves, and used his leg to kick Anakin's waist. The strength of his metal leg, along with the Force's enhancement, immediately caused Skywalker's body to lose his balance, left him in severe shock and pain. Maul's attack was not over, he immediately use lightsaber to stab the belly of Anakin.

Just like twelve years ago, he stabbed Qui Gon Jinn in the belly and killed the JedI Master.

"No!" Seeing Maul kicked Anakin, Satine subconsciously aimed the Sith Lord's head and fired her blaster, desperate to rescue her friend.

Seeing such as powerful opponent that his master paid so much attention on, now was defeated by himself with skill and experience. Maul was so joyful and caught off guard. However, as a powerful Sith Lord, he was still able to partly dodge Satine's ambush, only his shoulder was shot. His lightsaber's strength was also weakened and the direction was changed, but still pierced Anakin's abdomen.

When the Sith Lord's attention switched to Satine, Anakin tried to endure the severe pain and used his hand to release all his remaining power, fired out a blast of telekinetic energy. Such power in a close distance instantly sent the Sith Lord to the air and heavily fell to the ground, and the telekinetic power almost shattered his mind, made him temporarily lost consciousness.

The Duchess quickly stepped forward to drag up Skywalker, she randomly fired several shots at Maul when they were fleeing. She wanted to take a look, but Anakin's injury did not allow a moment's delay.

She could feel his body was not yet cold, but he was losing his consciousness.

"Hold on, you are such a powerful Jedi, we will soon return to the spaceship, where medical droids will be ready to treat your injury, and soon you will return as the brave and unstoppable hero." Satine said softly to Anakin's ear when she was dragging the JedI's body.

Lightsaber's extremely high temperature caused the wound to curb instantly so Anakin didn't lose much blood, but the stab wound was still very severe. Fortunately his powerful Force maintained his life enough to let Satine brought him back to the spaceship. Then the Ducheess immediately ordered the medical droids to do their job, she also helped them to save Anakin's life.

The medical droids and device on the ship were not enough to heal Anakin completely, only temporarily keep his life. And how were they going to contact the Republic now? More importantly, if that Sith Lord came here, what could she do? Anakin badly injured him and she shot him a few times, but from what she learned from that conversation between him and Anakin, he once was cut into half but still returned.

Satine was so tired, she could not think of a plan to solve all these problems. The Duchess started to gae at Anakin. She brought back memories of this young JedI knight, came here alone to protect her, helped her escape from Spar's supporters, and fight against that Sith Lord, almost lost his life. She came close to Anakin, her lips once were close to his forehead, but finally made a step back, just lay out her hand to hold Anakin's hand ...


	3. Chapter 3

Satine held the hand of Anakin, she shook her head and sighed again.

This young Jedi, came alone to Mandalore Sector when the situation was so unstable, willing to protect her against such enemy and was badly wounded during the fight, most of the women would be difficult to not get tempted.

But before this, more than twenty years ago, someone already did similar thing, and won her heart. Even she and Anakin firstly met because of this person.

Obi Wan Kenobi.

Yes, it was during the Mandalorian civil War, he and Master Qui Gon Jinn came to her home planet as her allies, they fought so many bounty hunters and other assassins to protect her. The affection between her and the young Jedi Obi Wane was developed at that time, but only a year later he left because of the Jedi Council reassigned them to other planets. They hadn't met again until the crisis of the Death Watch.

Over these years, she never developed any relationship with any other man because of her affection of Obi Wan.

They met again several months earlier, but things had changed a lot.

Although they fought side by side again, but in her heart, she knew clearly this man had changed too much, they shared too little in common now, that Jedi apprentice she knew and loved was long gone. They wouldn't get along, even if Obi Wan wasn't a Jedi Knight .

Worse, even though he once again gave her a helping hand at the crucial moment, showing that he had not completely lost the enthusiasm, but she was not the only woman he treated like this.

Although they hadn't contacted for a long time, she already gather a lot of information of Obi Wan secretly, his past, his whereabouts, his relationship. Overall, she's a politician.

She was not even the first girl Obi Wan had such relationship with, and he never dropped the affection, not before he met her, not after.

Yes, he once said he would quit the JedI Order if she asked him to stay, but he must had said the same thing to other women before and after he said to her.

After the two parted away again, she decided to completely put down this relationship from her heart.

Not long ago, when Obi Wan faked his death, she was also unable to control herself and came to his funeral. After the truth was revealed, she didn't feel happy for Obi Wan's survival but was devastated because she felt she was betrayed, and finally was able erase the love from her heart.

She did not blame anyone, Obi Wan never did anything wrong. It was her own mistake to love this man.

As for Anakin, she could see the difference between this young man with his master.

From his words and actions, she could feel this young man was full of passion and enthusiasm, that's what Obi Wan once attracted him, but Anakin's was much more stronger, it's incredible that he still kept such enthusiasm after took the JedI training for so long.

If he and Obi Wan were not related, since her political life in Mandalore had already ended, she would not hesitate a bit to at least try to express her feeling to Anakin, regardless of the age difference between them.

But he was the apprentice of Obi Wan, she could see the bond between Anakin and his master during the crisis of the Death Watch. is the same as the eyes of her income, if she tried to express her feeling toward Anakin, then Obi Wan…

Thinking of this, Satine bitterly spit at herself.

Obi Wan could have romance with so many women without being responsible, why should she care about him anymore?

Especially now, they didn't even know whether they would have chance to leave this planet, they might both get killed by that Sith Lord, it's pointless to think about Obi Wan.

She really hoped Anakin could wake up, let them know each other better.

She put her warm hand on Anakin's face, then suddenly found the visions of the JedI's memory appeared before her own eyes.

His childhood on Tatooine.

Master Qui Gon Jinn discovered his ability and decided to train him.

His romance with Padmé in Naboo.

The Slaughter of the tribes of the sand people to avenge his mother.

There were much, much more, bit by bit in the Clone Wars.

There was a scene that caught Satine's attention, that was Anakin expressed dissatisfaction when he heard the master had affection of the Duchess, but still obeyed the JedI Council's order and left the planet.

What? "Satine was confused.

"Isn't it what you want to know, girl?" Behind her, came a gentle female voice.

The surprised Duchess immediately turned her head back and took our her blaster, she already closed all the entrances, no one should be able to get in so easily.

Green mists were flowing in the cabin, and quickly formed into an image of a human female. She looks like sixty years old, both her hair and eyes were brown, dressed in brown robes. Most people would think she was a Jedi Master, if she wasn't formed by green mists.

"I can feel your desire to understand this man, and more eager to let this man know your feeling." The mysterious old woman gave the Duchess a very profound look.

Satine frowned, she did not like others to talk about her personal feelings in front of her, the old woman must had observed the situation for a while.

"I can help you to heal his injury," the old woman put away a smile, " the medical facilities could not hold his life for long, the Sith Lord will be restored and soon come to you, I believe you know you are not match for him, unless this man recovers from his injury. "

Satine did not answer, she knew there must have some malicious plot going on, but this old woman also need her help now. As a politician, Satine had dealt with a lot of treacherous and sinister indviduals, she had the confidence to deal with this old woman.

After took a look upon the memories of Anakin, Satine was sure this was man she wanted. He did like he said, willing to protect his loved ones with all costs, even if he had to break the discipline of the JedI. Just like herself, tried to change the tradition of the Mandalorians that lasted for millennium in order to protect her people from the bloody war.

Unfortunately, Anakin didn't love her, he didn't know much about her, not yet.

So she must not miss the opportunity.

"Yes," the Duchess pretended to be helpless, sighed after she replied.

At the same time, in the cold night of Akaan, Darth Maul was healing his wound. Sith could use the power of Dark Side their injuries, but they must be able to bear the pain and not lose consciousness before the healing was complete, otherwise it would be too late to prevent the arrival of death, then the best outcome would be become a ghost, drift for thousands of years, looking to devour or corrupt curious victims.

Unlike many manipulative Sith Lords, including his master Darth Sidious, Darth Maul is a wild beast made of darkness. He didn't have many dirty plots in his mind, only the desire to kill. He took extremely harsh training, endured unbelievable pain and vowed to let his enemies taste what he had learn from it. That was why he survived after being cut to half by Obi Wan's lightsaber.

He was recalling that fierce battle against Anakin during the day, this time he did not underestimate the Jedi, he almost killed Anakin with his tactic, that Duchess' ambush caused the glorious victory escaped from his hands. After he recovered, he must go to their ship and use the most brutal way he could think of to torture them to death, then take back their heads. He knew that Skywalker lost because the Jedi training could not release his full potential. If Skywalker took the Sith training from his childhood, then it's even horrible to imagine how powerful would he become, maybe even surpass Maul's master Sidious. So he must eradicate this young JedI as soon as possible.

Darth Maul suddenly heard an explosion. Not far away, he saw a mass of flames, the Sith Lord quickly went to take a look and found his speeder - Bloodfin was destroyed and burning.

Maul could feel the man who destroyed his mount did not go far, the Dark Side of the Force was strong on him, too. He tracked that man through the force, when he was close, the Sith Lord suddenly leapt up and flashed out his double-headed lightsaber.

That man quickly dodged Maul's strike, aware of he couldn't escape from Maul now, he flashed out a red light saber to fight. This man dressed in black robes, his face was fully covered. After several clashes, Maul felt his opponents was quite impressive on strength, but his light saber moves were disorganized, Looks like he was afraid to be identified by Maul.

Facing such a clumsy opponent, Maul quickly occupied the upper hand, he did not give the opponents much chance, used violent blows to constantly push him back. If not for the injury that had not been fully healed, the fighting would end a lot sonner. The enraged Sith Lord just wanted to use his lightsaber to pierce the chest of this fool, and then tear up his hood to see the true face.

When the victory was close, a dozen of rocks were suddenly smashed over to Darth Maul's direction. Some of them were aimed at his eyes, forced the Sith Lord to dodge.

So unfortunate, seemed like another powerful Force users had come to this planet to go against the Sith Lord. Even though Maul was usually fearless and savage, he chose to retreat because he got more important people to kill, his injuries would drag him down if the fight last for too long. That mystery man also disappeared in the night.


	4. Chapter 4

The spaceship's original medical facilities would be difficult to hold Anakin's life for long. Under the power of the mysterious old woman, medical droids inside the spacecraft began to be shrouded by green mists.

"How are you going to cure him?" The Duchess asked the droid coldly.

She was not eager to ask the droids to start the process, but firstly ask the details.

"His organs were hurt, because the Force was protecting his body, there is no further deterioration yet, but we need ..." The droid's tone was different than usual. They even understood how did the Force work.

"I can handle most of the process of this surgery." Satine said after heard the droid's introduction of the surgery. She grew up in the time of the civil war and spent a lot of time and effort to study the medical technology.

"This ..."

"I will perform the surgery, and you will assist me." She gave the order coldly.

Satine performed the surgery with her best effort, a few steps must be performed by the medical droids, she also carefully monitored the droids during those steps, and make sure those green mists did not come too close to Anakin.

She once noticed a tiny bit of the green mist, almost escaped the naked eye, were slowly trying to touch the body of Anakin, but blue light glowed near Anakin's body and dispersed the mist.

The Force? Satine was not a Force sensitive, but she silently thanked the Force for protecting Anakin.

The surgery was successful, Anakin's body wouldn't take too long to recover, but his mind was still unconscious, it was unclear that when would he wake up.

As the Duchess of Mandalore, she had seen too many men, many had died before they could say any words to her, and the rest are mostly sanctimonious politicians and rude military officials. With she grew mature, she could see through these men's mind and knew how to deal with them. The conversation with these people were mostly just cliches and lies. That's why she kept the affection of Obi Wan for so long until finally realized that Obi Wan was long "dead".

But Anakin, like she had already seen and thought about, it was really difficult for her to resist. While his love, had not belong to her yet.

She had only seen such glare from one man before.

Of course, the feeling toward that person was not love, but the deepest respect.

Too bad she couldn't attend his funeral because of the serious crisis on her own planet during that time, it had been one of the things she regret the most in her life.

Now she was with Anakin, she swore she would never let him fall before her eyes.

The young JedI was in a coma now, the best way to express her feeling of him, was to use her best effort to take care and protect him. Satine hated to pretend to be delicate and weak to gain man's compassion, while it usually is a very effective way to win man's heart.

She really hope Anakin could know what she did for him.

While except those mysterious green mists, there was nothing wrong, but she still could not put her guard down.

They could not just stay here forever. That dangerous old woman and that Sith Lord both would make move against them.

She silently prayed to the Force, then she saw Anakin was surrounded with blue glow. At the same time, the green mists all but disappeared in the ship, it seems that the Force had answered her.

Satine thanked the Force, then she started her work, trying to fix the communication device.

She knew a little bit about how to fix these devices but was not very proficient. Fortunately, the device wasn't badly damaged. That Force even tried to help her to strengthen the power of the device. They could only send brief message to Coruscant but it should be enough. When Satine touched that blue glow of the Force, she felt familiar with it.

She chose to communicate with Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

"Chancellor Palpatine, your highness. this is Duchess Satine Kryze of Kalevala. " Satine didn't forget the etiquette, but she must explain the situation clearly as soon as possible, "Anakin and I were trapped in the planet of Akaan of our sector. He was also injured, we are facing the threat of a Sith Lord and a witch. I hope you to send reinforcement as soon as possible, thanks. "

Right after she had finished these words, the communication was interrupted, seeing the image of Palpatine nodded before disappearing, she once again close your eyes and prayed again to the Force.

Anakin had not yet regained consciousness, He felt his mind was filled by mysterious Force power and still in chaos.

Strangely, he could not remember what happened, only felt pain of his belly.

He felt there was a woman beside him, she was very friendly and was taking care of him.

Although he did not see her face, he could that this woman had feeling toward him, she care about him a lot.

"Padmé, is that you?"

In this moment, he firstly thought about his wife.

He first met Padmé on Tatooine when he was just nine, he never saw such a beautiful girl before. At that time he asked her "Are you an angel?", also promised to her: When he grew up, he would marry her.

He first met Padmé on Tatooine when he was just nine, he never saw such a beautiful girl before. At that time he asked her "Are you an angel?", also promised to her: When he grew up, he would marry her.

Ten years later, they grew affection in Naboo and married secretly.

In order to protect Padmé, his must become more powerful, never let the tragedy of his mother happen on her.

He could only remember these two, the most important people in his life.

As for others, he could only find vague images in his memory, regardless of how hard he tried to think and remember.

He was so tired, but still didn't give up, he planned to find more memory through the most important people he could remember.

His efforts were not entirely wasted, and Padmé memory, an image was getting closer. It was man in his mid-thirties. Anakin had very strange feelings for him, he was very familiar, but he didn't feel they are really close.

"I'm sorry, Anakin."

Just as he was about to recall the name of this figure, a voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

Visions that he had never seen before suddenly appeared in Anakin mind, interrupted him when he was so close to remember who that image was.

Like the vision of his mother's death, but this time, they were more strange and hard to imagine.

"No, no, Padmé, no ..."

The Anakin body could not help trembling, his forehead was full of sweat.

"Witch! What have you done? " Satine shouted out. She looked around and saw no green mist, then she approached Anakin, used her hands to hug the JedI's head, and let her cheek to attach his face.

The Duchess knew there is nothing to concern now, this man needed her protection, just like she once needed his. She had to express what she felt about him. Thinking again about Obi Wan, who she no longer loved would be silly.

This man was very good, but his heart belonged to another woman, and even got married, would this be a huge mistake?

No, don't think like this again, all she wanted to do was to let him know and feel her affection. She would not force him to do anything.

At the moment Satine's cheek attached his face, Anakin realized this woman was not Padmé, he could not help and shivered his body due to the surprise. Was this woman relate to the horrible visions he just saw?

That voice, the voice of an elder appear again in his mind again, "Do not worry, Anakin, she is not malicious, not at all."

Anakin could not remember who that was, But he found he trusted this voice so much, without knowing his identity. His body no longer shivered.

"You are in great danger, what you just saw were pieces of the future. That woman, is the only trustworthy people in this crisis." The kind voice was full of regret and frustration, "I'm sorry, Anakin. I just ... I just couldn't find a better way to help you go through. Remember, nobody is not reliable than her, not even ..."

That voice did not continue to go on. No matter how many times Anakin tried to ask questions, there was no answer.

It's strange, Anakin could not remember who that man was, but he totally trust this voice, he must also be very important to him.

Now he knew that he must recover as soon as possible.

"Thank you, lady." Anakin said softly.

Satine was already very tired after the surgery and watched Anakin for more than ten hours. When that came to her ear, her beautiful face returned Anakin with a smile, even though he might not see it.

Shortly after, Satine finally could not hold anymore, she fell asleep on the side of Anakin.

She did not know that not far from the ship, massive amount of green mists were gathering.

They tried to invade the ship again, but didn't work.

"We still need some time to complete it, my strength was still keep flowing away," said a husky voice.

"Let me go…inside…and…" a burly figure near those mists spoke out, he seemed injured.

"No, the force was strong in him, once he detected our hostility, everything will be undone." the husky voice spoke slowly.

"Do not worry, I found the key to solve this, and soon I will become stronger than ever. and you will be greatly rewarded. "


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a week since Anakin went to the Mandalore Sector and lost contact with the Republic. The Republic also got the news that Spar, the leader of Mandalorian Protectors and a clone of Jango Fett, had become the new Mandalore, taking the title of Mandalore the Resurrector. Shortly before this, recording showed that Duchess Satine, the leader of the New Mandalore were making secret allies with the Jedi and violently attacked the commandos when she was discovered by the them. Thus she went exile and had lost all support within the Mandalorians.

In the office of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Palpatine had invited Anakin's master and wife, Obi Wan and Padmé to discuss the plan to rescue Anakin.

"A few days ago, I received a message from Duchess Satine. She said that she and Anakin were trapped in a planet in the Mandalore Sector called Akaan. " Paplatine started to elaborate what the information he got. Even though his also looked a little bit sad, but still remained a calm tone. "But Anakin was injured. And she told us, there was a Sith and a witch on that planet, both were causing threat to them."

"It seems that the Mandalorian Protectors set a trap to get rid of Satine from the beginning, and so they would get the perfect reason joined the CIS," Anger could be seen from Obi Wan's face, "As for the Sith, that must be Darth Maul, he had returned and fought me recently. "

Standing beside him was a petite pretty girl, she was Senator of Naboo and Anakin's wife, Padmé, her face was full of anxiety: "He's always like this, never hesitate when others need protection, no matter how dangerous it is."

Palpatine tried comfort Padmé:"Anakin had come to me to say farewell before he left, I believe he will return safely." At this moment, he did not look like the Chancellor of the Republic, but more like an old man who was worrying about his child, "He is a young man full of enthusiasm, always wants to protect and help others. I remember when he left, he was full of confidence. The Duchess was also very grateful when she mentioned him. "

"I believe I am the best choice to lead this rescue operation, "Obi Wan intended to settle the plan as soon as possible.

"Do we have to discuss it with the Jedi Council?" Palpatine carefully asked.

"No, I already talked to them, I'll take a few elite clone troopers, as well as a friend I trust to rescue Anakin and Duchess Satine." Obi Wan had already done a lot of arrangements after he came back.

Palpatine nodded, "That's good, Master Kenobi."

"Let me go with you," Padmé eagerly demanded, "he is facing great danger, the consequences of late moment is difficult to imagine. "

"I'm sorry but I think it's not a wise choice, Senator Amidala," Before Obi Wan respond, Chancellor Palpatine spoke out, "The Mandalorians were going to join the confederation, they won't be friendly against the JedI Knight and members of the Republic and won't accept any diplomatic proposal.

According to the message I received from the Duchess, there were Sith Lords there. Dealing with them is not your strong point, and we shouldn't send too many people there. "He was sincerely looking at Padme, "I am not a Force user, but I believe that Anakin's enthusiasm and strength will help him to save the day."

"I agree with the Chancellor," Obi nodded, "But Padmé is right, we can not waste any time. "

Padmé went silent, she really wanted to go and rescue Anakin, but Palpatine and Obi Wan were right. In this kind of situation, it difficult for her to keep calm like they did.

"You have my word, go pick the finest soldiers and the most useful equipment," Palpatine shook his hand with Obi Wan, "As the Chancellor of the Republic and Anakin's friend, it's my responsibility to do my best to help you rescue him. If any problem occurs, contact me immediately, I will use all the forces I can spare to help you. "

Obi Wan thanked the Chancellor and went to pick the soldiers and the equipment. When he was about to aboard the ship. Padmé came to see him.

"Promise me, bring Anakin back safely." Padmé gazed at Obi Wan, tears dropped from her eyes. Once elected as the queen when she was just thirteen, she was usually quite independent and strong, but now her love was in great danger, she could not control her emotions.

Before Obi Wan could answer, they heard someone pretended to cough, then a pale bald woman walked out from the shadows. It's a piece of cake for her to sneak here. "Then we will go to rescue that boy?" She then prodded to Padmé, "I am sorry that I didn't meet with you earlier, but I was afraid that the other Jedi probably would not welcome me."

Obi Wan told the clone soldiers that Ventress was no longer their enemy. He also briefly introduced her to Padme, especially about how Ventress rescued him from Maul and Savage.

"Although we were defeated by them last time, but with these elite troopers' help, we won't have problem against Maul alone. Anakin will come back safely." Obi Wan was full of confidence, he gave Padmé a look, then boarded the spaceship with Ventress and the clone soldiers.

"Your padawan Skywalker and that Duchess stayed together for so long, you don't even worry about that?" Ventress asked half-jokingly on the way.

Obi Wan did not answer, but gave her an angry glance, motioned her not to go on with this. Her stupid words already let him feel uncomfortable, Padme was not far away from them. If she heard it, then the already broken-hearted woman might just go crazy.

"You Jedi are really dull." Ventress ignored that, "Just try to avoid and supress those emotions because 'they will lead to the Dark Side' rather than face them. "

"At least a hundred times better than the Sith." Obi Wan didn't want to waste time to argue with Ventress.

"Do not be so sure, some of your JedI's discipline are worse than the Sith'," Ventress didn't buy it, "However, that Skywalker boy is quite different ... "

Obi Wan then ignored Ventress and switched his attention to the clone troopers. They must get to the Mandalore Sector as soon as possible.

"Lord Maul?" On the night of the planet Akaan, Another conversation between the two Sith Lords started.

"Yes, Master," Fear would only appear in this Sith Lord's horrific face when he stood before his master, even if it's just the hologram.

"I can feel the great disturbance in the Force, it appears that a number of fights have occurred on this planet, I believe your task is done right?" Darth Sidious asked.

"Almost, I already achieved victory against Skywalker, but that woman ambushed me and messed up everything," Maul didn't dare to deceive his master, he knew it would be foolish to not report the truth, "More than one powerful practitioners of the Dark Side came to this planet to interfere, one of them was wounded by me so he won't be a threat for a while, the other never stopped cause trouble to me when I tried to finish my task, he is also hiding from me, it's hard to get a direct confrontation with him."

"We are the only two Sith Lords in the entire galaxy, nothing should be able to oppose us, none of the other Dark Jedi should even dare to display their feeble skill before the true masters." Sidious was quite disappointed, "If you can not complete the task and bury these vermin in this planet, then you will no longer be eligible to wield the title of the Sith." He put special emphasis on his last sentence, anger could also be felt from those sibilant words.

"I understand, I will never live up to your expectations, Master." Darth Maul replied with great fear.

"In addition, your sworn enemy, the Jedi Obi Wan was heading to this planet and attempt to save his padawan. Lord Maul, release all your hatred, get rid of this troublesome Jedi once and for all. As a Sith Lord, only revenge can wash out the shame of defeat. "The conversation ended here.

It was a good news to Darth Maul, compared to find the hiding unknown Dark Side. It would be much more exciting to kill Obi Wan's lover, padawan and Obi Wan himself together.

Perhaps, he should carefully consider which one should he kill first, depend on which one's death would make the other two the most painful.

Satine could not remember how long they had been here. She could not leave the ship because she had to take care of Anakin. Fortunately, she was well prepared, there was enough food in the ship.

Anakin's body was strong, with the help of the Force, he recovered quickly, but he still hadn't regain conscious.

Satine suspected that Sith probably used some force trick to his mind, or those green mists caused it? She knew nothing about Force so could not get an answer. She hated this, wanted to save loved ones but could not do a thing.

Although she grew affection to her protectors, but she didn't really like to be protected by other people, actually, she wanted to be the protector.

The establishment of the New Mandalore was for this goal, although now this dream had already been shattered. But she would not give up to protect Anakin.

She felt that blue glow of the Force that once gave her some familiar feeling was trying to say something to her, but it seemed really difficult to for them to communicate.

Anakin's mind was still chaos, but with the help of the Force and his own will, he still could sense what was going on in the ship. He was very grateful to this woman for what she did for him in such difficult situation.

This reminded him of his mother. Shmi was just a slave, but still raised him with great care under multiple slave masters.

"Thank you, lady. You remind me of my mother, she raised me up in very difficult environments." Despite still didn't recover most of his memory, but he was still eager to convey his thanks to this woman. "When I fully recover, I will do anything for you."

Then he started again, use his will to find his memories and try to regain conscious, just like he once wanted to grow up quickly so he could protect his mother and loved ones.

After heard these words, dumbfounding expression appeared on Satine's classical beautiful face. She wanted to say something to Anakin but and swallowed it back and chuckled, then the Duchess put her lips upon Anakin's forehead then kissed him.

Outside the spaceship, ghostly green mists almost formed a symbol of some ritual, under that husky voice's incantation, but scattered before it was complete. That husky voice murmured: "Damn, time is running out, but I will not fail …"


	6. Chapter 6

"Anakin, the greatest danger is about to come," That voice once again echoed in the mind of Skywalker. "Remember my warning, I know it will be extremely difficult for you to do it, but I cannot think of a better way, I'm so sorry." It went silent again.

And Duchess Satine, was sitting next to him, having a little rest.

She was too tired, not just took care of Anakin by using very limited resources in the ship, she also had to pay attention to the outside whenever possible to see did the rescue team come or did that Sith Lord come back.

"Duchess Satine," that voice that echoed so many times in the mind of Anakin, finally was able to communicate with the Duchess. "I'm sorry, it's so difficult to communicate with non-Force sensitive."

The sound was very light, but Satine still could hear clearly inside the ship. She knew that voice was from the familiar power of the Force. After heard this voice, the Duchess was very shocked, that voice… Could it be ... her eyes began to moist.

"Anakin was in great danger, a conspiracy will soon be implemented. "The voice said with serious tone. "Thank you for your care these days, but now he needs more help."

"You are referring to that mysterious old woman?" Satine immediately figured out.

"Yes, she is a powerful dark force users, planned to draw Anakin's soul and strength for her own use. If you let those droid performed the surgery, perhaps Anakin had already been doomed." He had praise of Satine.

"Although I could temporarily sealed most of his memory in order to protect his soul, but the witch is about to master the things I can not stop, so it comes to you." The words came out slowly, it seemed he felt ashamed about what he had to say next, "I will help you show all your true feelings to him, so that we may have the opportunity." His tone was filled with deep regret, "But after that ... Can you promise me, Do not… do not let Anakin have to make a difficult choice. "

"I will not let you down," Satine said firmly, "I also believe that you will guide him well, Master Qui Gon."

Although she could not see the image, but she knew he must be very surprised. Satine grinned while her eyes were filled with tears, her voice was slightly trembling, "how could I forget your voice?"

That warmhearted JedI Master who never stickled to those rigid and useless disciplines in the war. After he came with his padawan, he took a good care of her like a father, comforted her when the young girl witnessed the tragic loss caused by the war. She could not remember how many times did Master Qui Gon risked his life to save her from the assassins. His words and deeds also taught her so much, let her stay away from the path of hatred and grew as a pacifist.

When the Jedi Council arranged a new mission for them, Obi Wan left while he was indeed sad, but Master Qui Gon Jinn disobeyed the council's order, chose to stay longer because the situation was still unstable. He continued to protect and help for a few months until everything was settled and her safety was ensured.

During his departure, she cried so sadly in the arms of the JedI Master, that was the only time she cried like that in her life.

She had never seen a man with such glare before, she thought she wouldn't see one ever again.

Until she met Anakin ...

She swore she would protect the man she loved, and never fail the most respected and admired father figure in her heart. She could imagine that Qui Gon Jinn nodded to her with a smile.

As for what to do after this crisis, she didn't want to think about it now.

"Why not just create an illusion so that will save you a lot of strength?" Not too far away from the spaceship, The burly figure asked.

"It won't work, that boy is too familiar with her. Simply use my witchcraft to create an illusion will be figured out when he approaches her." That husky voice replied.

Shortly after, in the night of Coruscant, the capital of the Republic, strange green mists that nobody noticed slowly moved toward the residence of Padme, the Senator of Naboo.

Padmé hadn't been able to sleep well for a few days because she was so worried about her husband. Aftet Obi Wan went to the rescue, she decided to convince herself to take a good rest, Anakin wouldn't want to see her like this.

While Padmé was about to fall asleep, the mysterious green mists infiltrated through various cracks in the doors and windows and filled her room almost instantly.

"Wake up, girl." The voice was not loud, but straight through Padme's mind, she opened her sore eyes. She saw a red-robed, pale face Dathormir witch floating before her, surrounded by green mists.

"You…who are you?" Padmé was very frightened.

"A friend, and I am willing to help you from losing your husband's heart." The witch's hand waved, presented visions before Padmé's eyes.

These visions weren't really horrible in any other people's eyes, but as for Padme, it was indeed nightmare, she could not believe that these. But these visions were so real and caused great impact to her heart.

"These are the visions of the future, the only way to overturn it is to cooperate with me." The witch said kindly.

"No, no!" Padmé was struggling, "I will never cooperate with you!"

"Part of you had already agreed."A strange smile appeared on the witch's face when Padme wasn't sure what did she mean. The witch then stretched out her hand, Padmé felt like the witch was siphoning something out from her body and soul. "And that's all I need."

Padmé was unable to resist, she only to felt weaker and weaker, and soon lost conscious.

"Do not worry, when you awake, you will not remember a bit about this." After the witch finished her words, her image and the green mists faded away almost instantly from Padmé room.

The Next morning, when Obi Wan and crew just arrived in Akaan, they found Darth Maul was already waiting for them.

The Sith Lord was dressed in black robe, exactly like when they met on Naboo, twelve years ago. He gritted his teeth, fire almost burst from his eyes, "Let's end this once and for all, just you and me."

"Why should he fight you alone?" Ventress didn't take it seriously, "My former servant, oh, your brother isn't with you this time, we don't have to waste time. " She was ready to take out her lightsabers and completely ignored the clone troopers.

"You won't be able catch me even if you all come." Maul said confidently, "Then I will just hide and strike out when you are busy dealing with other enemies, take you down one by one." Maul hated to waste his tongue, especially upon the enemies, he started to lose his patience.

Obi Wan knew what Darth Maul said was right. He could feel there were more than one users of the Dark Side of the Force on this planet. They could now waste too much time to defend Maul's ambush because Anakin and Satine needed their rescue. At this moment, it's wise to get rid of this circle of hatred that lasted twelve years.

"Well, I accept." Then both sides went silent, only the sound of the lightsabers could be heard.

Twelve years ago in Naboo, Obi Wan was just a Jedi padawan, fought alongside with his master Qui Gon jinn but still could not get the upper hand against Darth Maul. If it wasn't Maul's overconfidence which lowered his guard, Obi Wan got no chance against him alone.

Now, Obi Wan had been been through in numerous battles became a powerful Jedi Master. If he faced that Darth Maul on Naboo, it would be a close battle.

However, the Darth Maul he faced now was no longer the one he met on Naboo.

Although never really die, but he was reborn.

Although he no longer had a sound body and got a even more twisted mind, as Sidious said before, after his regain the control of his mind, he had become more powerful than ever.

He didn't release his full fury and hate in the battle with Anakin. He was saving them for his sworn enemy: Obi Wan.

Maul almost became the avatar of hate, driven by the dark emotion that grew in his heart since twelve years ago, his Juyo Form also became unbelievably vicious and deadly.

His body moved so rapidly along with his flashing double bladed light saber. Obi Wan could only see a mass of living shadow in front of him. The red blades were everywhere, struck from all directions in various attacking styles.

As a master of the Soresu Form, he had always been able build unbreakable defense, and at the same time observe the enemy's negligence then launch efficient counterattack. But facing such rapid and strong attacks, he could only focus on defense and barely keep it, even the slightest neglect would cause his defense to break, and could not even think of counterattack. He can only wait for Maul to get tired. But with great hatred, Maul did not loose a bit, his power even grew stronger after seeing Obi Wan could just barely defend his attacks.

As Maul threw all his hatred and anger, use them as weapon against Obi Wan. Obi Wan could only suppress his hatred against Maul for killing Master Qui Gon. In their last battle, Maul's words let the JedI Master lost his control over his anger, made him wide open and got easily defeated by Maul.

Completely different with the most violent Form Juyo, Soresu Form required its user to stay calm and control his emotions, anger would only let the user to lose his balance. Not to say that Obi Wan was a Jedi, the discipline was to suppress such feelings, as the Sith did the opposite.

Obi Wan almost could not catch the pace of Maul. Defense is the only thing he could think and make, there was no chance to counterattack.

After continually blocked serveal violently striks of Maul, the hands of Obi Wan began to go numb, but the Sith Lord was not done yet, he swiped his body, use the other end of his light saber to sweep Obi Wan's body. If this went on, Obi Wan would soon get exhausted then lost, no matter how good his defense was, he can not keep against such a beast's non stopping impact for too long.

Obi Wan , after all, went through hundreds of battles. He finally figured out an idea, changed to Ataru Forum, his body suddenly moved extremely agile like a panther, he leaped high to avoid Maul's sweep. At the same time, he was not satisfied to avoid the opponent's attacks, but to use the agility and acrobatics to make several quick attacks against Darth Maul.

From Soresu suddenly changed to Ataru, from a steady defensive style suddenly changed into an agile offensive acrobatic style. If it was against other opponents, they might not be able to handle and could be defeated.

But as for Darth Maul, he would never forget that young Jedi jumped up and then cut him to half. Although he was full of hatred, but did not therefore become irrational. In truth, that defeat always haunted and reminded him, never repeat the same mistake again and get ready for his move.

The Sith Lord's body started to whirl, he was using both sides of his double-headed lightsaber to block the continuous attacks of Obi Wan. After he adapted the tempo of Ataru, he started counterattack, Compare to Obi Wan, Maul didn't increase his movement tempo too much, but enough to keep his mobility.

With the fight went on, the tide once will again clearly tilted to Maul, after Obi Wan missed the opening chance, Maul could predict Obi Wan's move easily due to Ataru's excessive body movement. Switch the style again would be quite hard, the number of Obi Wan's attacks were keep decreasing, he used the acrobatics mostly to dodge the swings of Maul now.

To make matters worse, Ataru's cost of the Force was significantly greater than Soresu, not to say Obi Wan already had disadvantage against Darth Maul on the power of the Force. He must figure out a way to switch back to Soresu again. Even though he still could not find a way to cause real threat to the Sith Lord.

Obi Wan began to increase his speed, keep feinting and launching series of light thrusts, temporarily pushed Maul back. Despite these moves would cost more energy, he must gave a try or death would call. In spite of these attacks, he quickly jumped back then started to change his strikes back into steady defense moves.

When Maul rushed back, he would be able to establish a solid defense.

However, the Sith Lord didn't simply rush to him, but charged for a small distance and then quickly thrust out his sword.

Before Obi Wan was able to complete his defense, Maul's lightsaber appeared before his chest, the hilt was longer than ordinary lightsaber, but it still got a little distance, made it impossible to stab into his body.

It's time to turn the tide, thought Obi Wan, another half a second, he would easily parry away Maul's blade, then it would a great opportunity to launch a deadly counterattack. The Sith Lord was still careless, chose to thrust his blade when they were so far away.

But the Sith Lord's move was not over yet, he slightly rose his lightsaber, the scarlet blade instantly sliced the lightsaber hilt of the JedI Master to half.

Maul then swung his blade, sliced the hilt that Ventress threw to Obi Wan, without turning back.

He would never forget How did Obi Wan use Qui Gon Jinn's lightsaber to slice him to half.

Obi Wan had seen more exquisite attack from Count Dooku, but he didn't know Maul, this savage Juyo practitioner would come with such a move.

The Sith started to learn how to control and release all the negative emotions in their heart, firmly control and use them as weapons. Unlike Jedi, chose to suppress and avoid them.

Darth Maul, the winner of this battle, came close to Obi Wan, then rose his fist and violently beat the JedI Master, again and again.

"I'm thinking about making your face more scary than mine." Maul laughed.

The Sith Lord's other hand was holding his lightsaber, ready to stab Obi if others dare to interfere. His move would be quicker than anyone, including the annoying Dathormir Dark Jedi. The Sith Lord knew Obi Wan's crew didn't want to see the Jedi die.

Only this would not be enough to please him, Maul looked at the badly beaten Obi Wan, used his fist again to strike him down and kicked Obi Wan's body a few times. Then he stepped his foot on the face of Obi Wan, turned his head against a clone trooper. "Record this scene! "Maul shouted.

While the clone troopers were looking at each other, not knowing what to do, the pleasure from revenge on Maul's suddenly went off.

If an other being dare to disturb him when he was humiliating Obi Wan, he would simply left it to pieces.

However, it was his Master, Darth Sidious, directly giving order. Sidious was indeed so powerful with the Force now, he was still able to send simple command to his apprentice's mind when he was on the other side of the galaxy.

"Damn, don't leave from this planet if you have any courage left, we are not done yet!" the Sith Lord unwillingly left Obi Wan aside and ran away ...

"Anakin? Anakin?" A sweet female voice suddenly appeared in the unconscious mind of Anakin.

It was also heard by Satine.

"So it has begun," the Duchess murmured.

Padmé? Is that you?" Anakin was so surprised, since he came to this planet, the young JedI had never been so happy.

With the response of Anakin, a petite Naboo girl's image emerged in the ship. She smiled and lay out a hand to Anakin: "I miss you so much these days. Now, I am here, what are you waiting for? "

It was indeed Padmé. He wouldn't make mistake.

Anakin was overjoyed, he really wanted to wake up and run to her and hold her hand ...


	7. Chapter 7

Obi Wan was badly beaten by Darth Maul, visions suddenly appeared before his eyes, he could feel that was from the Force.

He saw Anakin was lying on the ground, seemed to be injured, his face was full of fear, and desperately shouted "No!"

Satine was also lying on the ground, she looked pale and trembling, something started to make her condition worse, she was dying.

Count Dooku was gracefully waving his red lightsaber, and clashed with Obi Wan's green lightsaber, his eyes still filled with confidence, but with a trace of regret. Like usual, his easily defected Obi Wan's swing, and then shoot out lightning from his hands...

These visions, each of them scorched his nerves.

"What? Still afraid of nightmares in this age?" Ventress' laugh woke him, the medical droids were healing him.

"Is this the will of the Force, or Darth Maul's trick?" Obi Wan asked himself.

Darth Maul would be unlikely to play such trick.

But those scenes? Really is predictive of the future?

Why would the Force show him these?

Obi Wan didn't want to think too much, he was so worried of Anakin and Satine, but as a Jedi can not let their mind be swayed by emotion.

But anyway, they really had to get prepared to deal with Dooku, he might be one of the powerful user of the Dark Side in this planet.

They must be careful, even with Ventress' help, they still got little chance against the Sith Lord.

"Therefore, we must hurry to find Anakin …"

Anakin's hearts was full of joy at this moment.

He didn't know how long did his mind stay like that, but woke up and embrace his wife would a perfect way to end this long nightmare.

He went up and started to walk slowly toward that image of Padme.

Even though he wanted to rush to Padme, but at this moment he could not control his body well.

"Anakin, no! Please trust me, it was not real Padmé, that witch wanted to control you!"

Anakin had his memories back now, he knew it was the voice of Qui Gon Jinn.

If any other people were opposing Qui Gon Jinn, he would stand firmly on the side of Qui Gon, even if it was his master, Obi Wan.

But in front of Padmé, the real Padme, he could not do this.

He temporarily stopped for a moment, and then continued to move toward Padme.

Qui Gon Jinn could only try to slow him down. As for Satine, she didn't have the power to stop him.

"Anakin, forgive me." Qui Gon Jinn's voice was full of regret.

Then, the blue light started to shine before his eyes, memories and feelings of another person were going into his mind.

It seemed that Master Qui Gon was trying to make him to know a person.

A woman,

She grew up in a cruel war, built a peaceful government with the help of the Jedi.

She spent her whole life to establish and maintain peace among her people, regardless of countless accusations of her ruining the old tradition.

In this war, she tried to make her people stay out from it and not spill any blood.

Her relationship with Obi Wan, started well but parted ways, and finally lost the last bit of affection.

And then it was her burning affection of him.

She took care of him after his injury, day and night.

Monitored those medical droids to protect him, and performed the surgery by herself.

He could feel right now, this woman was so eager to protect him and express her feeling.

Skywalker was surprised that under her cold politician face, there was such burning affection.

And she loved him.

He never felt such strong emotions from any women other than Shmi and Padme, his mother and wife.

"Anakin, Do you remember the embrace you gave me when we were on the lake on Naboo?" The words of Padmé grabbed Anakin's attention once again.

"There is nothing in it, only our love, like my heart now, I believe yours is the same." Her every words touched the heart of Anakin.

"And this woman beside you, does she share such memory with you?" Padmé words were full of arrogance. "No need to talk about our past. Even if we firstly meet, will you even compete this pathetic, nasty old ***** with me? Oh, I heard from the news, even her own people have abandoned her." She continued to reveal the Duchess' scar.

Satine heard such insulting words loud and clear, but it was not the time to get angry, so she could only tolerate and suppress the fury.

"Anakin, come to my arms, do not worry about that ***** and forget about that silly ghost Qui Gon Jinn." Padmé continued emotionally.

Anakin understood that was the real Padmé, he could feel her feelings, especially their deep love. But from these words, he also knew this Padmé before him was not complete. She had stronger, unbinding emotions, didn't care to insult other people when she express her feelings, it is if she was the dark side of Padme.

But this was not important to him.

Because of his feelings for Padmé, even if she became selfish and possessive, it won't affect their relationship.

In some ways, this dark Padmé Skywalker was closer to himself.

"Anakin, no!"

Qui Gon Jin once again shouted at him.

Satine took all her courage, came to face Anakin: "Anakin Skywalker, I must say somethins, as this may be the last chance."

"I've seen too many man as I grew up, but most of them were just warmongers and dirty politicians."

"Even your master Obi Wan, was no longer the young Jedi I knew and loved."

"But you..."

"You came here all the way to help me, fought that Sith Lord to protect me, just as you protect all the things you care about."

"This, is the most precious value in my eyes, so rare in the whole galaxy. And you are full of passion, I can always trust you and tell you the true feeling in my heart. Although we only met for such a short time, it's enough let me lose the control of my heart and fall in love with you, yes, I love you. "

The Duchess came to an abrupt end. She wanted to say more: She still respect the choice of Anakin. But if it encouraged him to follow Padmé then...

Anakin heard every word of it, they stopped.

He was very grateful for everything Satine did for him.

He believed everything she said, along with her love were true indeed.

But these was just enough for him stop a for a little moment, then went to his wife's arms.

"A pathetic, nasty old ***** who was abandoned by her own people, actually thought she could save him? "The voice of Mother Talzin suddenly appeared in the mind of Satine, using Padmé's words and tone for mockery, "Beg for mercy now, perhaps I will spare your life and sell you to one of the slave owners I know. A pretty Duchess will get a good price."

"Talzin, you will not succeed!" Qui Gon Jinn shouted with fury.

"I will not fail, because this time my life depend on it," Mother Talzin knew she had gained the absolute upper hand and spoke slowly, "My corporal body was destroyed long ago because it could not bear the growing power of the Dark Side of the Force. I've been lived in this semi-spiritual form for so long. "

Mother Talzin was sure she had already won, so she didn't mind to tell her whole plan to Qui Gon Jinn and Satine, a powerless ghost and a silly girl in her eyes.

"Until recently, after the destruction of our home, my strength had been weakened because a mysterious hand of the Dark Side was severing my connection with the Force." Her tone carried a bit of hatred. Obviously once this plan was successful, she would seek the source of that mysterious hand and take revenge. "If I can not find a suitable host, once I lose too much power and unable to maintain my soul, I will be gone. So the body of the Chosen One is undoubtedly the best choice. Look at him, his soul filled with love and happiness, so the ritual will be carried out smoothly, without resistance. "

"Oh, I also left a trick for Darth Maul, I secretly put a spell inside his mind when I was healing him. He would have to obey me without a question once I cast it. Although before I get my perfect new body, it won't be wise to expose this trick to his master Sidious. So I had to use his brother to work for him, Savage is just a simple-minded beast, completely under my control and no need to worry about him! "

Seeing Anakin embraced Padmé without suspecting any danger, Mother Talzin no longer wanted to waste time with Qui Gon Jinn and Satine. Green mists began to enter the spaceship and surround Anakin, they were overcoming the blue glow of his body, and soon after, the witch would possess Anakin's body.

Is it too late?

Satine did not give up, she looked outside to the spaceship to see the source of these mists, hoping to find any opportunity.

The mists outside the spaceship formed a strange pattern of ritual, in the center there was a tall witch in red robe, that must be Mother Talzin. A burly figure was guarding her, his hand was holding a red double-headed lightsaber. That must be Savage.

And he caught the Duchess' attention.

"The mindless beast, uh?" She was brainstorming, trying to figure out an idea.

"Master Qui Gon, I need your help." Satine spoke quickly, "Help me to communiate with that man, something like speak through his mind, hurry."

Qui Gon Jinn was out of ideas, hearing Satine got some ideas, he immediately used the telepathy skill to help her .

"Serve as that witch's slave, is really what you want? " Satine fully stop trying to use their most melodious tone to the dialogue and this guy.

"Who are you?" Savage was very surprised.

"Am I right about it?" Satine continued to ask.

The Zabrak lowered his head, and did not answer.

"This witch were using you brothers from the beginning, she also put a trick in your brother's mind to control him, once she is successful, both of you will become her slaves. " Satine's tone became more gentle and sincere.

"But I have no choice, I need to learn a lot, before I become powerful and wise enough, the only choice is to find someone other than her even more unreliable.", "Savage said reluctantly.

"Don't be silly," Satine incisively pointed out, "Now is the best chance! "

Savage didn't know what was she talking about.

"Why should you rely on others to live? Become your own master, now is the best chance to draw her strength and knowledge to yourself, and become one of the most powerful beings in the entire galaxy, what are you waiting for?" Satine didn't know the details of the ritual, but she knew this man wouldn't want to stay as a servant for his whole life. "It's not you don't have ambition, I can understand there was just no chance. You loathe you current life and status so much, Why let such a golden opportunity go away?" Each of Satine's word went into Savage's mind, pointed out the desire in his heart, her tone was full of politician's appeal power and feminine charm.

Savage lowered his head, went silent for a moment. Satine was so anxious, she could only pray as the ritual might be complete, the image of Mother Talzin had already begun to float.

Then Savage raised his head, the eyes were full of ambition that was never seen from him before.

He rushed in front of Mother Talzin, took her hand then use his own power of the Dark Side to channel her power into his body.

"No! Savage, What are you doing?" Mother Talzin shouted,she thought everything was under control, her soul was about to enter Anakin's body.

"Succeeding, no, surpassing you, Mother. "

He had never spoken so proudly before.

All the green mists quickly drifted back on the outside of the ritual location, the image of Mother Talzin began to become blur, and energy were keep flowing into Savage's body.

Mother Talzin's pale face now looked like dying embers, she could not believe that she fell in a single minded beast's hands.

Her mind was focused to settle the ritual and possess Anakin's body. All her power were used to maintain the ritual and control the dark side of Padmé, she did not consider the Zabrak servant would go against her.

Over the years as the matriarch of the Nightsisters, she treated all the night brothers as nothing but slaves. Savage was no different, he must serve her to survive in this galaxy.

So she underestimated his hidden ambition while the Duchess was able to find it, so now her grand plan was ruined, she really hate this end ...

After ritual sparkled for a few times, the image of Mother Talzin was totally gone, the green mists all went into Savage's body.

Satine quickly took up her blaster and went out of the ship, she saw Savage was lying down on the ground, holding his head and struggling.

The power of Mother Talzin all flowed into his body, but her soul was not faded yet, the two souls began to fight for the body's control.

When the Duchess raised her blaster, Talzin's voice echoed in her mind.

"No, don't do it please, I can help you, let him fall in love with you forever ..."

Satine ignored the pleading of the witch, instantly shot through Savage's forehead, then fired a few more shots to his body.

Savage did not even have the chance to cry, he fell in his pool of blood, struggled a few seconds then no longer moved.

"Is that witch dead?" Satine asked, her blaster was still pointing to the corpse.

"No, all her strength into the flesh body of Savage, as Savage's body died, her power were buried with it, along with her soul. "Qui Gon Jinn was relieved," However, are you too cruel against this Zabrak? After all, he did us a great favor? "

"There is no better way," a trace of guilt appeared on the face of the Duchess, but flashed out after merely a second, then her expression became extremely cold, "We can not risk ourselves to save this simple-minded man, that would give that witch chance to strike back. "

"The victory of the Chosen One needs both the way of light and darkness, yes, a non-Force sensitive can see this more clearly than us." Qui Gon Jinn thoughtfully said.

The dark side of Padme lost the support of Mother Talzin, it could not continue to form image, but the blue glow wrapped her, "I'll send her back to Padme's body, so I have to say goodbye to you now. Once again I have thank all you've bravely done, my child. " Qui Gon Jinn was a bit sad.

"To hear you again and even fight side by side with you, is a great honor and pleasure to me." Seeing the blue glow left the ship, then soaring into the sky disappeared among the stars, the eyes of the Shating once again became moist ...

She dried her tears, then go back to the spaceship, Anakin finally restored all his sanity and woke up.

"You finally wake up, Anakin?" Satine gave sigh of relief then showed him a sweet smile.

The Duchess helped Anakin get dressed, and went out of the ship with him to take a breath of the fresh air.

"I am very grateful for everything you did for me, Satine," Anakin no longer called her as Duchess.

Before he really woke up, with Master Qui Gon's help, he had already saw Satine's feeling.

To him, she was no longer just Obi Wan's former lover, ally of the the Republic.

But a woman very close to him.

Not only because of her burning affection and all the things she did for him.

But also for her firm will to protect her loved ones and not afraid to make so much sacrifices.

Now he wasn't really clear about his true feelings of her..

If he didn't meet Padmé, perhaps he would consider ...

Oh, no, forget about it, he must stop himself to think deeper.

"I just ..."

He didn't continue, anger suddenly filled in his eyes.

Satine was confused at first, then she looked back and understood.

That Sith Lord was back, still wearing a black robe, face covered with red and black tattoo.

He stood there, seeing the corpse of his brothers, fire almost burst from his already bloodshot eyes.

"It seems we must finish this once and for all," Anakin said coldly, "It was he who killed Master Qui Gon." Anger also raise from the Duchess' heart because of her admiration for the Jedi Master. But she sensibly went aside, to let Anakin deal with the Sith.

Maul didn't ignore her this, he unexpectedly raised his left hand in front of this woman, Satine felt a strong invisible hand suddenly grabbed her throat and would let her suffocate within a few seconds.

Anakin also raised hand to launch a Force Pull against Maul, forcing the Sith Lord to leap up to avoid his attack, which interrupted his Force Choking.

Seeing Satine sat on the ground, holding her the neck and could not stop cough. Anakin's heart was full of fury.

Anakin remember, twelve years ago, it was Master Qui Gon Jinn came to Tatooine and changed the his fate.

At that time, nobody except his mother ever took him as more than Watto's little slave.

It was Master Qui Gon who found and praised his talent, helped him to become a free man and decided to take him as padawan.

When the Jedi Council, and the one who later became his master, Obi Wan, thought he was dangerous and disagreed, Master Qui Gon did not give up.

It was Master Qui Gon who made his dream of becoming a hero and protect the others came true.

Although he didn't have a father, but he always took Master Qui Gon as a father figure.

When he was killing the whole village of the Sand People to avenge his mother, Master Qui Gon's voice echoed in his mind, told him not to continue.

But he did not realize, for so many years, Master Qui Gon, as a Force Ghost, had been with him.

This time, Master Qui Gon, once again, and Satine saved him from the conspiracy of Mother Talzin. At this moment, his respect and admiration had grown even deeper.

But his killer showed up again.

And this time he tried to kill the woman who was so important to him, did so much to help and save him from such a great threat.

This, no doubt let the fury of Skywalker burn to the limit.

So be it ...

This time, they will have to finish this once and for all.

He would not let this monster survive like Obi Wan once did.

This time, he must let this monster pay with blood.

Anakin's face was filled with hatred, he took out his hilt and flashed out the blue blade ...


	8. Chapter 8

After a long battle, two Force users' struggle finally came to an end.

Unlike last battle, this time, Anakin's anger was reaching the limit.

There is no doubt the Force was so powerful within him, their last battle already proved it, not even Maul could match his strength and speed.

But Darth Maul had found Anakin's weakness, which is unable to control his emotions well.

He started to use the Dun Moch skill, taunt the opponent to distract him and make him doubt about himself.

"The anger and hatred is not the Jedi way, you know it worse than a Sith?"

"Your master really failed to teach you how to control yourself, Jedi."

Anakin took Jedi training after he became a padawan, but it did not help him in battle this time. On the contrary, it shackled him, prevented him from release anger against his opponent. every time Maul taunted him, he would be distracted from the hate and anger, and the discipline of the Jedi would prevent him from continue to use the power.

Jedi never only advocating repression and to avoid these negative emotions.

But is this really the right way?

Anger and hatred are all human, no, most of the beings' nature.

Shouldn't he treat the enemy with them?

He is confused, and Maul took the opportunity to launch fierce attacks, gained the upper hand.

The Sith Lord didn't need to worry about it, they were trained to control and release these emotions.

He unleashed all his anger, finally seized the chance when confusion once again slowed Anakin down, the Sith Lord hit his chin with his fist, kicked away his lightsaber.

In front of the defeated Jedi, Maul had an idea.

He just learned the skill of Force lightning from his master, not sure could he master it in the battle , but at least it's a good way to torture the enemy when he's beaten.

He raised his hand, releasing his inner hatred, blue lightning shot from his hands and shocked Skywalker's body, overcome such a powerful enemy really made him feel good.

However, he soon lost his interest to torment Anakin, then took out his lightsaber, ready to finish the Jedi.

"It was I who killed your brother." Satine could not bear to see it, "Come if you want revenge."

Maul did not answer, but shocked Anakin again with his Force lightning, left Skywalker's body was in amnesia.

Then, the Sith Lord slowly walked to the Duchess.

Satine didn't try to run, she stood there, her blue eyes looked straight into the monster.

When he was close enough, Maul slightly lift his fingers to release his Force lightning, then started to enjoy the scream of the Duchess, he could feel the misery from the Chosen One.

Too bad Obi Wan was not here, otherwise it would be perfect.

Unlike many other Sith Lords, Moore didn't enjoy slowly tortured the enemy to death, not to mention Satine was such a weak woman in his eyes, it was not as amazing as he thought to be.

Maul soon got bored, he wanted to see the dead drown in their blood and the living fall into endless grief, now.

The Sith Lord stopped his force lightning, his strong hands grabbed Satine's body, then he used his lightsaber to stab against her belly mercilessly.

The scarlet blade burned through the Duchess' clothes, and then the flesh and bone.

Anakin did not scream say anything, he just felt his body and soul was burning intensively, it was more painful than to let Maul's lightsaber go through himself.

He already grew feelings of her after Master Qui Gon showed him her life and heart.

He understood her firm goal, her affection and sacrifice for him.

But he still wasn't really clear about his feelings of her, and he also didn't want to think too much.

Because he already got Padme, and she's his wife.

However, at this moment, seeing her bravely faced this monster, risk her own life to save him, He finally realized that he really loved this woman, a lot.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

After he finally realized it, all he could do was to watch his loved one got brutally impaled like this, he could not do a thing to stop it.

"I killed Qui Gon Jinn like this," the Sith Lord said proudly.

Then he released his grip, throw the dying woman to the ground.

Anakin released out all his anger, formed a extremely powerful Force push against Maul, at that moment, he really wished he could know how to use Force lightning.

Unfortunately, Maul was well prepared, he jumped up and easily dodged this attack.

Anakin crawled to Satine's side, trying his best to heal her by calling the help of the Force.

But her injuries were too deadly, his skill could not make much effect.

"I'm sorry, Satine, I am not strong enough, I failed you..."

Skywalker's tears were dripping onto the cheek of the dying Duchess.

Just like that time on Tatooine, he had to witness the passing away of loved one, and couldn't do a thing to stop it.

This time, he could not even strike down the murderer to avenge her.

He fell into endless remorse and sorrow...

Maul's attention was no longer at the couple, but upon a tall old gentleman that showed up before him.

He looked about eighty years old, but his movement was so agile. Maul could feel the Dark Side of the Force was so strong within this old man. Except his master Sidious, Maul had never felt such power from anyone.

The gentleman's name had long been known by the entire galaxy, although Maul was not familiar.

The leader of the Confederacy, Count Dooku.

Also the Sith Lord, Darth Tyranus.

Count Dooku didn't start the fight with Maul immediately, but suddenly rushed near Anakin used a Force technique against Satine, and then turned back and flashed out his lightsaber to face Maul.

Dooku was too fast, and caught everyone in surprise. The Force lightning's effect on Anakin's body was not totally gone yet, Skywalker was powerless to stop it.

Although knew she would soon die, but had to witness her death now, Anakin was almost devoured by despair.

What happened next, however, left him completely in shock.

Not only the Duchess didn't die, the force was keeping her life, although not completely heal the injuries she suffered, but at least able to keep her alive for a little while.

It is indeed the power of the Dark Side, but it saved Satine, from dying.

How could this be? Skywalker asked himself again and again.

He dreamed to become a Jedi Knight since childhood because he wanted protect the ones he loved.

The Dark Side of the Force was symbol of destruction and devastation in his eyes, the Sith also was the symbol of evil.

However, a Sith, using the Dark Side of the was able to save his loved woman from dying, when the Jedi wasn't able to use the Light Side of the Force could to do a thing.

Before this, there were conflicts between the discipline of the Jedi and his own belief, but none of those could compete with the fact he saw this time.

The fact he saw with his own eyes, almost turned his world up side down ...

On Akaan's desert, he two Sith Lords' blade clashed over and over again, a fierce battle had started, there was nothing to say, nothing could distract each other.

Maul mastered his Juyo Form well, he tried to defeat this old gentleman with series of vicious attacks.

But his opponents seemed to be very familiar with these seemingly chaotic attack, always able to judge accurately and successfully defected it.

Every time after the old man defected his blade, he was able to find his weak point, regardless of how did Maul move and while. Every counterattack always aimed at his defenseless areas, he could barely dodge them. With the duel continued, Darth Maul was clouded by fear, he hadn't been so afraid in a battle throughout his life.

He did not know, this former Jedi Master in front of him, not only knew all seven forms well, but also spent time to collect the information of his fighting style after knew his survival, and even spent time to find Exar Kun's double blade lightsaber style's weakness.

On this planet, he also secretly watched the fighting between him and the two Jedi.

But what drove him to do all these?

That was hatred that lasted for more than ten years, but it was also firmly under his control.

The hatred combined with Dooku's Makashi Form perfectly, his thrusts was as deadly as viper, the movement was so aggressive, step by step, never give Maul a moment to rest.

Maul's mind was filled with panic, and he could not do anything to help it.

All his attacks and moves had been predicted and countered, and his already weak defense could not help much against the Count's fierce thrusts.

The end soon came.

After one Maul's reckless strike was easily defected, Dooku seized the opportunity, his lighsaber aimed between Maul's eyebrows and went in accurately.

The scarlet blade impaled through the head of the Zabrak Sith Lord. This time, there wouldn't be any possibility for him to survive.

"This, is for my Padawan."

Dooku then extinguished the flame, left a charred hole on Maul's head, it was still slightly smoking.

After that, he came toward Anakin, the Count did not speak, just squatted and put his hands near Satine's lower abdomen, then began to use the Dark Side of the Force.

He seemed to be in control of the midi-chlorian in the Duchess' body and using them to heal her.

Anakin had limited understanding of such power, but could feel Satine was getting better, he didn't know why his fierce enemy would to help them, and got a lot to ask, but he didn't say a word because right now, save Satine was important than anything.

Dooku still remained silent, Anakin could see sweat on his forehead, even he had to use his full power to control the midi-chlorian.

Whatever, Satine's life could be saved, and that's all good.

Not to say himself, there was no Jedi Master capable of healing such injuries.

And of course they would "let it go" rather than try to hard to save someone.

His mind was in great chaos and confusion, but at least Satine was getting better.

It all went so smoothly until two figures showed up behind Dooku.

The first one was a Jedi master, he was around thirty years old. The other one was a bald woman with pale skin, looked like a Rattataki.

There was no doubt that it must be a master Obi Wan, along with Ventress.

"No, no, Master, Dooku.. He was trying to help us ..." Anakin was consumed by fear, he was so afraid of the , he almost became incoherent.

Obi Wan came here with the help of the Force, he felt the power of the Dark Side was so strong, he let the clone soldiers to stay behind, let him go first to avoid unnecessary casualties. Obi Wan knew after the clashes of the Dark Side Forcer users, only the most powerful of them all remained, and that was Count Dooku.

On his way, he felt Anakin's great anger, and was very worried that he was in trouble.

Anakin was lying on the ground, Satine was dying, those were so similar to the visions he got. Count Dooku was using the Dark Side of the Force to do some trick. He was a bit far to figure out the trick.

Will those visions come true? Horror raised from Obi Wan's heart, he also couldn't understand Anakin's words.

"You just wanted to sit here and do nothing?" Ventress asked impatiently.

The Dark Jedi was right, they must stop Dooku now.

Count Dooku must had deceived Anakin and was luring him to the Dark Side, it all make sense now.

Obi Wan immediately flashed out his light saber and strike against Dooku.

He can not allow the Sith Lord to harm Anakin and Satine.

"That's much better." Ventress smiled and opened the two red lightsaber, go to Dooku passage of the trailing Obi. Fortunately, she brought a few more lightsabers with her, so they wouldn't have to worry about their weapons after the battle against Maul.

"No!" Anakin shouted out, he took out his lightsaber, wanted to pierce the palm of his master to stop him.

Is it right? Harm his master to protect a Sith? Is it a little bit...

It is this hesitation made him too slow.

Dooku slightly shook his head, stopped the treatment of Satine, then shot out lightning from his hands to drive Obi Wan and Ventress back, his elegant hilt flashed blood-red flame to start a new round of battle.

Anakin fell to the ground, he could not believe his loved one lost the chance to live because of his hesitation.

The only way to save the Duchess' life was let Dooku complete, now her life once again started to fade, she might be able to stay for a while, but her death could not be stopped.

If he could strike out in time, the tragedy would not occur...

Even if he had to hurt his master Obi Wan ...

No, he should do nothing but blame himself, he still had things to do.

If he could not save her, at least, he could let her know his love.

Anakin did not say anything, but hugged Satine, then gently stroking her pale cheek, and kissed on her lips ...

Count Dooku were facing two powerful enemies alone, but they still couldn't cause much threat.

In addition to his superb fencing and the powerful Force, the Count knew their styles too well so could defend easily and strike against their weak spots, he trained Ventress for so long, fought Obi Wan before and observed his battle against Maul.

Dooku soon got bored, he kicked Ventress away, defected the lightsaber of Obi Wan-use away, then immediately released a Force Push to throw him to the air.

When Obi Wan's body was still in the air, lightning shocked his body and knocked him into a coma. Then Ventress also fell shortly after meaningless struggle.

After he was done with those two, Dooku saw Anakin was holding Satine, from the boy's eyes the Count knew he was begging him for help, just as he was about to answer, a familiar voice once again echoed: "Long time no see, My Master."

"I'm glad you still call me master, Qui Gon Jinn." The Sith Lord seemed touched, that was rare for him.

"Like you still take me as your Padawan." The Jedi Master's voice was also answered sentimentality.

As Dooku was so pleased and smiled, Qui Gon Jinn continued, "My master. I am here to plead for this girl, please save her, both of them are like my children to me, I do not want to lose one and seeing another one break his heart. I know you also appreciate them."

Count Dooku thought for a moment, nodded, then squatted to restart again.

Although this was not part of the plan, but he would just do it for his Padawan.

That Duchess indeed was courageous and smart, it's a pity to lose her.

Under the influence of Dooku's power, Satine opened her eyes and regained conscious. But Anakin could feel the life of the Duchess was still fading.

"Unfortunately, because it was firstly interrupted, it's too late to save her life, all I can do is give her two or three days of life," Dooku said coldly toward Anakin, "This is just for my Padawan, next time we meet, don't ask for a bit of mercy. "

Hearing this, Anakin's heart was filled by sorrow.

When the Count was ready to leave, he heard Qui Gon Jinn's voice.

"My master, all of us can see that there is still good in you," Qui Gon Jinn sincerely advised, "The Republic is highlu corrupted, but the path you are walking will only bring up a terrible regime. You will also become the victim, it's not too late yet... "

A trace of sadness appeared on the face of Dooku, but only for a moment, then he was full of pride again, "the Republic's fall and the rise of a new order are inevitable, and I will lead this new order to the most ideal direction, even if I have to sacrifice myself. "

Looking at the master walked away without turning back, returned to the embrace of darkness, Qui Gon Jinn could also give a sigh.

"Thank you so much, master Qui Gon."Anakin said calmly, he and Satine both said farewell to the Jedi Master.

After the clone troopers arrived, Anakin led them to repair the ship, then let them bring Obi Wan and Ventress to leave Akaan. Skywalker insisted that he and Satine still got unfinished business and would have to return a few days later .

After the Clone Trooper's ship left Akaan, Anakin gently embraced Satine: "Let us ..."

"Anakin? No, you don't have do this, I am already very satisfied. "The Duchess lowered her head, her face turned red.

"No, I meant it," Anakin said sincerely, "I love you so much, too bad I didn't realize it until that monster hurt you, right now, let's express our feelings without leaving anything to regret for. "

Satine know Anakin would not line, after thinking for a moment, she hugged him around his neck then whispered: "Well, Obi Wan never came this far, not even close. . Oh Damn, why should I mention him again…"

...

A few days later, Anakin came back to Coruscant with the Duchess' remains. He informed Chancellor Palpatine, and the chancellor agreed to arrange a funeral for her.

"As her old friend, it's so sad that I could not save her, I think at least I should do something for her, such as write the epitaph for her." During the funeral, Obi Wan's face was filled with sorrow.

"No, I will do it, I am sorry, Master, this is her last wish." Anakin's eyes were still swollen, he didn't tell rest of it:"Never let Obi Wan interfere with anything about me".

He already got the epitaph in his mind: "Here lies a great woman, seemingly weak, but protected countless powerful individuals."

"Anakin, aren't you a bit too enthusiastic to this Duchess' matters, let her friend Obi to handle these, won't be better?" Padmé spoke out, though she didn't remember a thing about Mother Talzin and those visions, but a woman's sensitivity let her doubted and felt anxiety.

"Anakin told me this Duchess saved his life a few times, he must be very grateful. You know he was very easy to fall into a deep guilt during this kind of situation, "Palpatine stood aside Anakin and tried to smooth things over.

"Senator Amidala, we have to respect the Duchess, she already left this world, and couldn't do anything to affect this world anymore, if her little wishes could not be done, that would be too tragic." Palpatine had some hint in his words.

Padmé frowned, and did not go on.

A week after, Anakin asked for a secret meeting the Chancellor in his office.

"Chancellor, thank you for everything you did for me and Satine." Anakin bowed before the Chancellor.

"I can see you are very sad to lose her, as your friend how can I not try my best to help you?" Palpatine continued to comfort Anakin.

"This trip made me understand the Force much better, I want to know more the Dark Side, especially the manipulation of midi-chlorian."

"This is forbidden to the Jedi," Palpatine seemed quite surprised.

"I want to understand the Force better through study both sides to protect people."

Anakin continued: "But I can not any Jedi know about it, so you are the only one I can ask for help."

"I am not a Force users, so my knowledge of it is very limited," Palpatine was trying to figure out a way, "But as the chancellor, I can secretly use some of my power to send people and try to gather some knowledge and legends, hope this can help you. "

"Thank you so much, I will do anything for you when you need my help." Anakin once again bowed to thank Palpatine.

"Like I said before, we are good friend. You are welcome. " Palpatine put his hand on Anakin's shoulder, kindly smiled to him.

(The End)


End file.
